A spokeswoman for Thomson and First Choice Holidays supported this position: “Sharm-el-Sheikh kind of acts as its own country because of it being on the Sinai Peninsula and the agreement the Egyptians have with the Israelis, it is very much kept as a separate entity in itself

“Therefore, we feel that travel to Sharm el-Sheikh at the moment is perfectly safe.

“We have had reports from our resort staff on the ground saying that it is very much business as usual.”

International Response

India and the United States have already offered emergency charter aircraft to passengers, while Germany has warned against travel to the whole country – including Sharm-el-Sheikh.

Conservative MP also called on Briton to step up its response to the developing crisis.

“If we pretend that things are going to improve in Egypt, we are wrong,” he told ITV Daybreak.

“We must get our people out.

“Other nations have done that already. If we do not then - excuse the pun - our nationals become a hostage to fortune, literally.”